10.29.07
New week
Today I went to the gym earlier than normal, I got there at about 5.30 pm, and suddenly remembered why I go there late. It was busy 
I wasn’t able to do the walking part of my cardio routine because all the treadmills were full. However I was able to do all the rest of it (tell a lie, between my second and third set I offered the pull-down lats machine to a woman who was waiting, so I never did the third set) and was pleased with it.
The cycling is still the hardest thing, I did level 10 today and it was really hard work. The big success was the rowing: 838 metres! I was amazed.
Pull-down lats – I put 17.50kg on today, and did not hurt my shoulder. I’ll do that weight this week and see if I can get to 20kg next week.
Core exercises on the ball – I’m ready to go to three sets now, even on the difficult hamstring curls, so I’ll do that on Wednesday.
Slowly slowly getting to where I’m supposed to be.
10.25.07
Back to the gym
It’s been a while – over a week in fact. Work has been a pig lately and I haven’t been able to get to the gym or pool at all.
Today I gave myself a good 75 minutes to do everything. The rowing is no problem at all, except I have never yet made it to 819m the way I did when Aaron was sitting there watching. That was in the morning; I’m glad if I get over 800m in the evenings. The cycling is still hard work, I went back to level 10 tonight and just about achieved it. My neck started to throb a little bit but I got through it and was glad to do the whole 10 minutes. The walking is OK, but I’m still holding onto the heart monitor handles for most of it and I think I really should be walking with my hands free (this is more difficult) so will work on that.
I haven’t had time to do all the exercises for weeks, and somehow the squats and lunges were always cut, so this time I resolved to do them. They were fine, and although my knees are occasionally stiff now, I haven’t noticed any clicking or grinding for a week or two. The clean and jerks are good and even fun.
The pull-down lats still need a lot of concentration – I went back to 15kg which is OK except I was sitting too straight (I think) and hurt my shoulder again. But leaning back so that I’m slightly diagonal was better, and I was able to complete the three sets without any more pain. If I let myself be distracted for a second, I’ll get it wrong, so I really must concentrate on that. The bicep curls/tricep kickbacks are hard work but OK
The core exercises are a good winddown – the pelvic tilts and abdominal crunches are fine. My back really enjoys the massage you get with the abdominal crunches – I try to curl each vertebra round one at a time – so I rarely cut this one. The hamstring curls are difficult but I can reliably do a set of 10 without a break, both times. I’m ready to move the core exercises up to three sets, perhaps I should do that.
Targets:
Move up a level each week on the bike – I’m still not at level 12 which is where I was supposed to start! and it’s been a month
When walking, let go of the handles for 30-second bursts next week, 1 minute bursts in the following week
Move up to 17.5 kg next time on the pull-down lats, do that for a week, and move to 20 kg after that
Start doing 3 sets of the core exercises from next week
My next assessment is due in a couple of weeks, but I think I’ll delay it to give me a chance to catch up.
10.13.07
end of another week
I managed to get to the gym today for a cardio/weights day.
Still on Level 10 on the bike, almost ready to try level 11. Walking and rowing are fine
Pull-down lats at 15kg are great, can do them now without hurting my shoulder. Am ready to try 20kg
Spa pool
I often mention the spa pool, I thought you would like a picture of it
From I can has cheezburger, of course
10.09.07
Swim tonight
Just had a half-hour swim tonight – for the first 15 minutes I had a lane to myself, and for the remainder of the time I had the whole pool
It was lovely
10.08.07
New week, new start
Actually I won’t get far, because I won’t be able to go to the gym or the pool on Wednesday, but never mind.
On Thursday last week I was working late, and Friday too, not so late but too late for the gym. So I haven’t been there for nearly a week.
Today I did the whole routine apart from the knee exercises (squats, lunges, bridges) and it was hard work but for the first time since Aaron put me on this programme I’ve felt, not just “I managed it” but “I did it”. True, I was still on Level 10 on the cycle and 15 kg on the pull-down lat machine, but I did the full batch of sets for each type of exercise, I did the walking even though I had NO dressings on the backs of my ankles, so all that’s healed up, so there you go.
Hope to have a nice swim tomorrow.
10.03.07
Gym update
Well I really did it to my feet by not wearing socks in my new trainers – I took the skin right off the backs of both my ankles. This necessitated nearly a week of no gym and almost no shoe wearing. Events consipired against the swimming too, so from Monday evening last week, to Monday this week, I have done nothing. By Sunday I was feeling distinctly blobby and determined to go to the gym on Monday.
So on Monday evening I gave it a go. I decided to row to warm up, then do the weights and core exercises, then do the cardio – the idea being that as the walking is where I did the damage on the heels, and I wasn’t sure if the cycling contributed too, I would leave them both till last.
I did the squats, lunges, clean & jerks and row/tricep exercises with no problem. The pull-down lats caused the intense pain in my right shoulder again on the first set, even though I’d gone down to 7.5kg. Then I realised that I have a tendency to sit too far back, so I shuffled forward and this was better, even though my left arm was doing almost all the control on the return so my right arm wasn’t actually contributing very much. The second set was OK, I could still feel a little discomfort, a bit like a bruise, but it was easing. I did two sets of this batch of exercises (only 1 of lunges as instructed)
The core exercises weren’t bad – pelvic tilts, ab crunches and hamstring curls. The latter are very very difficult, the others are fine. I did one set of these plus a set of single-leg bridges to test out my knees, a tiny click once or twice but great on the whole.
I was tired after all that, of course, so I put myself on level 9 on the cycle and managed it. “Bike program 1″ is tougher than “Fitness 2″ that I was on before, but I was able to stay above 75rpm throughout and was in the 80s for most of it. Another go like that and I’ll move to level 10.
Onto the treadmill, and within ten steps I stopped. Straight onto the heels. So I called it a day at that point. I was quite pleased that I managed that much though.
Today, two days later, I went to Majestic Centre to have another go. I decided to follow the same programme (cardio last) for the same reasons. Rowing was fine. Then the weights. All of these were fine, I did all three sets (1 set of lunges). The pulldown lats were fine, I made sure I sat forward and I had no pain at all. I still have to be very careful to control the return motion but hopefully my strength will build up in this area.
Core exercises – I did the required two sets of these, they were perfectly fine.
Then the cardio. The cycles were all in use, so I thought I’d try the treadmill. Again it went straight to the heels, which are mending well but I didn’t want to open them up again. So I did the second set of rowing and then went for a 15 minute swim.
After that I decided I’d earned a spabath. Love that spabath.
After the workout on Monday I was tired but glad I’d got through as much as I did. Today I feel much much better – my back coming back into line, my legs springy and supportive. I’m looking forward next time 
